Barrio Hollywood residents voted last week to change the rules of who’s allowed to be a voting member of the neighborhood association.
Voting rights in the association are now exclusive to those who live in the barrio. Meaning, if you are a business or property owner whose home isn’t in the barrio, you can’t vote on neighborhood issues.
(Here’s the story Arizona Public Media’s Amanda LeClaire produced. You need visuals and audio to get a sense of the emotions that were flying in the meeting.)
Barrio Hollywood Neighborhood Association President Kacey Carleton, who supports businesses being part of the voting process, sent out this email days after last Thursday’s vote, (here’s part of it):
Hello Neighbors,
The special meeting held last night resulted in a deciding vote for Proposal 2 of Article II of the BHNA bylaws. Despite the effort which went into it, the voting process was again full of indiscrepancies and the balloting problematic. The count was overwhelmingly in favor of a Resident Only membership making any formal complaint of the process fruitless.
The formation of an election committee will be discussed at our monthly meeting in September.
The special meeting was called for a discussion and vote of the bylaws since many claimed at the July 2nd meeting that they had had no opportunity for discussion. The majority of the attendees last night clamored for the vote to take place immediately and were not interested in any discussion or contribution.
The meeting and vote were engineered to focus solely on Article II of the bylaws when the special meeting was called to discuss and answer questions of the entire document. The remaining Articles will be on the Agenda of the September meeting for a vote.
Residents and businesses originally voted on the issue July 2, but those results were nullified because: A. Carleton apparently sent out a last-minute announcement that the voting session began at 5:30 p.m. and the original 6 p.m. Residents say business owners showed up to vote early and then left. And, B. When talks of amending the bylaws reached the ears of the city of Tucson, the Office of Integrated Planning threatened Barrio Hollywood to de-register it as a neighborhood association, should they vote for a bylaw that would exclude businesses. The city later said that as long as businesses can weigh in on what goes down in the neighborhood, even without voting rights, it means the bylaws are inclusive and the barrio is not up for punishments.
Turns out talks to amend the bylaws have been going on for more than one year. At the time, 25-plus-year neighborhood association president Margaret McKenna was voted out and replaced by Carleton, someone many barrio residents see as a complete outsider, working hand-in-hand with City Councilwoman Regina Romero to allow for gentrification and get back at Barrio Hollywood residents for putting their foot down when the city tried selling the culturally historic El Rio Golf Course to Grand Canyon University, a private, Christian entity. (Romero told the Tucson Weekly she has never fueled any issues in Barrio Hollywood, and she is neutral in this whole thing. I went more into detail on what’s been happening in this Thursday’s issue.)
Some business owners such as Charlie and Diane Hernandez of Pat’s Chili Dogs, said they felt they weren’t being heard by the previous administration, so they voted her out.
Here’s an email we got from Sal Baldenegro, a long-time Barrio Hollywood advocate:
Estimadas/os: This is a follow-up to my recent e-mail describing the events, re: Barrio Hollywood and the attempt to lessen the impact of Barrio Hollywood residents in favor of outsiders, and asked for your support of Barrio Hollywood residents.
Long story short: Barrio Hollywood residents won!!!! The bylaw change that would allow only Barrio Hollywood residents to vote in Barrio Hollywood Neighborhood Association matters won overwhelmingly—69-13. The details are below.
To put things in perspective, it’s important to know that:
1. The attempt to dilute the voting power of Barrio Hollywood residents did not originate in Barrio Hollywood. This attack on Hollywood was orchestrated by outside political forces who want to do to Barrio Hollywood what was done to the downtown barrios during the so called “Urban Renewal” (which really was a “Mexican Removal”) campaign in the 1960s: destroy its cultural-historical memory, run the current residents out and gentrify the area and thus destroy the political viability and activism of the west side.2. This attack on the west side is rooted in the El Rio Coalition-II beating back the plan promoted by the Ward One City Councilmember and the Mayor to convert the historic El Rio/Trini Alvarez Golf Course into a complex of high-rise condos and apartment buildings and commercial establishments, which would have permanently and irreversibly changed the character of Barrios Hollywood and El Rio, including the local Hollywood businesses.
Barrio Hollywood peeps have always prided themselves for being 100 percent pro-business. The residents I spoke with point to the Fiesta Grande and the renovations to Grande Avenue as some of the many ways they have pulled strings for the businesses in the area. They just don’t want businesses to take advantage of their voting rights in the neighborhood, as residents say some businesses did in last year’s election of the new neighborhood association president. Business owners can still attend meetings and voice their opinion.
The deep-rooted division dwells into gentrification and alleged political retaliation against Barrio Hollywood from the city, some residents say.
(I’ll have more info on this week’s issue.)
This article appears in Jul 16-22, 2015.
The bylaws are inclusive, HOWEVER to vote on what happens with the neighborhood, in the best interest of the neighborhood. You must be a resident.
Did the TPD make any arrests? It looks like Steve Leal in the middle of the room.
The title suggests that businesses are not welcome at neighborhood meetings or that they are not invited and encouraged to contribute ideas and suggestions. The residents wish to continue working with and for businesses and welcome them to the meetings. There was a lot of speculation as to how exactly Carelton managed to get elected by the neighborhood which planted the seed of mistrust for many. Unfortunately, many businesses who have nothing to do with the underlying motives for the seeming division feel personally attacked and unwanted.
I’m very interested to see who will cover this issue (and its many layers) thoroughly and without bias.
How does one ferment an issue?
Thank you Irma. I got the same impression from the article and it didn’t make any sense.
Most use a little barley and alcohol. It normally takes six months, unless you put it on high.
I have no idea what this article is about. Is there a Point/Counter-Point article out there?
What is going on in Barrio Hollywood and why should I care? Seriously.
If they are fighting against corporate real estate scum, let me know. The less Tucson looks like what is happening to all of 4th ave (like old Mill Ave in Tempe), the better.
If your not from our neighborhood you can’t vote bahbhaha hilarious cause that is an argument of our nation for illegals which you champion. Hypocrisy at its best tucson weely
The Facebook link title is different than the TW website. I just noticed that. I retract 😁
I really have no idea why I was down-voted from my previous statement. I asked for clarification on the article.
What is wrong here? Is this the inclusive environment you would want strangers to visit and maybe change their minds or be influenced about a subject they are ignorant of?
I am not attacking anyone. I understand that writers have deadlines and not every article is going to their best work, I do possess the ability to emphasize with my fellow humans.
I do not know the history or Barrio Hollywood or what this article is trying to convey.
The seed of mistrust was planted by the former officers who feel that they are entitled to run the association and nobody else. The gentrification stories are all fabricated nonsense coming from David Morales who lives in his own reality and some others who still live on Planeta Aztlan from back in the nineties. The last meeting at which a vociferous majority voted for exclusion also had a very nasty anti-business atmosphere with a non barrio resident outsider giving condescending lectures to business owners. Not very smart. Just to make sure, I took the trouble to make a long bike ride through the streets and alleys of Barrio Hollywood and Menlo park as well, very hot day and cooled off at the whataburger, also run by locals for a long time. There is no gentrification going on and the pinche complaints about San Agustin seem to miss the point that virtually ALL of the businesses there are owned and operated by local Hispanic Families who have invested in the area and work very hard. To me the whole balloon about the association appears to be generated by local whiners who feel they have a limited future. If Barrio Hollywood wants to be dynamic with a better future, I recommend that they walk away from the association and its poisoned politics and form their own organization that accommodates all who are interested in the future of the area.
God forbid that west side residents exercise their First Ammendent right to criticize A FEW businesses.
Dear “Reality,” stop being a hypocrite, grow a backbone and tell the world who you are! Do businesses walk on water? Wouldn’t any smart business owner want to hear from his/her customer base and “target-market?” People-human beings-are the most important capital. What is wrong with the democratic concept of “one person, one vote,” and allowing residents of a particular neighborhood to vote en masse to determine their own destiny? Barrio Hollywood Neighborhood Association belongs to its residents.
Business owners in Barrio Hollywood should organize their own Merchant’s Alliance.
@ Gonzo. Ferment. It’s a metaphor. Read a little. But, seriously, GO HOLLYWOOD!
Interesting that Arizona Public Media attended this meeting and reported on it and also did some post meeting interviews with Barrio Hollywood business owners. As I noted, it appears that the rigged vote story is now starting look like a fabricated crock used to stir up mistrust in the Barrio. The same parties are always involved. It could be harmful to the Barrio and Fiesta Grande as well.
A good solution to healing these wounds could be that all involved parties step away from the situation to let some other local people work the situation. The vote that blocked businesses from BHNA was really rigged through agitation and should be undone to return to the original configuration. The old management and new management of the association should all allow others to run the BHNA association for a while without agitation, confrontation and trolling.
Those who stirred up the gentrification fears with fabricated stories such as those done by David Morales and Scott Egan should be held accountable. Miguel Ortega needs to resign from Fiesta Grande, stop smearing local business owners through immature non-factual blogs and the financial records of the Fiesta should be turned over to a neutral source for auditing and publication to restore trust.
As for the future of Barrio Hollywood, it will be inevitable that the value of the properties will rise, but that will be a very slow process, as overall, the Barrio is in bad shape, especially after the last housing bust. Barrio Hollywood and Menlo park and some other Barrios as well are “sleepy town” with many deteriorated houses and vacant lots (The former GSA area on Grande has now been vacant for a decade). There are also a huge number of poorly maintained rentals. The neighborhoods should actually work harder together to solve these problems instead of generating mistrust and paranoia about outsiders. Organizations such as the BHNA association could actually be a productive tool to attract new housing construction and innovative designs for lower and medium income families that would enrich the neighborhoods, and a lot of empty housing close to Grant Road needs a bulldozer as a solution. So my message to the agitators is: Park it right now. Step away from it and think outside the box.
As a Tucson resident who lives very close to the Barrio I think it’s interesting that this uproar started by concerned business owners and residents who began asking questions about where the money is going raised by the Fiesta.
Financials should be disclosed at every meeting as they are in every other non-profit organization. Follow the money trail and it will explain why there is so much contention, intimidation (as evidenced by YouTube), and horrific disregard for Roberts Rules of Order.